March 3, 2013
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hymn 343 - Jesus is our shepherd
Prayer
Last time I spoke, we finished Matthew 9. In that chapter, Jesus used illustrations to show the real state of Israel. At the end of the chapter, Jesus mentioned the need of labourers; and in the next chapter, He called twelve men, the twelve disciples. Then, He sent them out on ministry journeys.
Matthew 10:5 & 6
Matthew 11:1 - 5
While the disciples were on their journeys, Jesus began to preach and teach. One day as he was teaching, two of John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus with question from John. John was in prison for telling the king that what he was doing was wrong. John’s job was to prepare the way for the Lord to come. He did this by calling people to repentance and by pointing the Lord out when He came to the Jordan to be baptized.
John was wondering if the Lord was really the one that should come; or, were they to look for another? John was expecting the Lord to set up His kingdom. This wasn’t the time for Jesus to set up His kingdom. In English, the word another has two different meanings. it could mean a second one of the same kind, or a completely different kind. In the Greek, those definitions of another have separate words. John used the second word here: he was wondering if they should look for a different kind of person (not a second man like Jesus).
You may have done the school activity “show and tell”: a student brings one of their belongings and shows it to the class while telling about it. In Isaiah 35:2 - 6, it was prophesied that Jesus would make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap, and the dumb talk. Jesus told John’s disciples to go and tell John that these were the things they could see Him doing. The Lord was indeed the One John was waiting for.
Luke 21:25-38
Verses 20-24 here refer to the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Right now, we’re in the “times of the Gentiles”, which will continue until the end of the Tribulation when the Lord takes over. Therefore, part of this prophecy has already taken place, while all of it was future in Jesus’ day.
In verses 25-28 we are told what will happen during the Tribulation. Verse 27, therefore, is the Lord’s appearing, not His coming. The “redemption” that “draweth nigh” isn’t talking about the redemption of our souls or bodies—that will have happened earlier—but rather the redemption of Israel.
Luke includes the Gentiles (“all the trees”) along with the Jewish fig tree in verse 29. The disciples asked in verse 7 when “these things” were going to happen, and what the sign would that they were about to happen. Jesus told them when in verse 28, and then He gave this illustration to show them the sign that “these things” were on their way. It’s a simple but true lesson: once these events began, the rest of them would follow.
In the Millennium the Jews will be the most respected and honoured people on earth, unlike today. People will be happy to know a Jew, and the United States will not be the dominant nation. It’s not for us to make predictions about when the Lord will come, but by the look of things it will be soon. Our Lord knows when He will come, though. We are still in the Day of Grace, so we don’t have a timeline of events to look for other than the Lord’s coming. Once He comes, though, there will be a predictable timeline of events to take place.
Our writers say that the “generation” that Jesus spoke of was a moral condition instead of a age. Jesus’ generation was an unbelieving generation, and the generation of the day these things take place will also be an unbelieving generation.
Verse 33 shows the value that is put on the word of God. We should prize it as divine and eternal.
In business, you always look at the past to determine the future. But what has been is not always what is going to be. We know that Heaven and Earth will one day pass away, so what is constant throughout life? The Word of God.
In verse 34 Jesus tells us that knowing these things should effect our behaviour. We were told take heed in verse 8, lest we be deceived. Now we are to take heed to ourselves, and the disciples were to pray that they would be counted worthy to escape the terrible things that were coming. It’s sad that Israel doesn’t have the New Testament to know “these things”; but it’s all part of a design, and they will have it one day.
In the final verses of this chapter we get how Jesus spent those days before the cross. During the day He taught in the temple, and at night He went to the Mount of Olives. He had no where to lay His head, and probably passed the night talking to His Father.
Back in Luke 4:18 Jesus gave a simple message, reading from the book of Isaiah (chapter 61, verses 1, 2a). Back then He stopped before reading about “the day of vengeance”, but He has now spoken of it somewhat in this chapter.
Hymn 312—Jesus loves me! this I know
Prayer